POSTAL STATIONERY GREAT BRITAIN QUEEN VICTORIA 1837-1901 by Dr
POSTAL STATIONERY GREAT BRITAIN QUEEN VICTORIA 1837-1901 by Dr. George W. Vella MD, Cert.GAM (UK), KOM, KCMG Postal stationery is that branch of postal history dealing with postal matter which bears a printed or embossed stamp indicating that postage has been prepaid. This stationery was issued by the British Post Office either as standardised official postal stationery, on which stamps were printed, half embossed or fully embossed in various denominations, or as stationery supplied by different clients to be franctised by the Post Office (or Somerset House), known as 'printed to private order' (PTPO) stationery. Whereas official postal stationery was rigidly standardised, as far as size, paper quality, rrinted content, and format were concerned, the PTPO stationery comes in all forms, colours and sizes, albeit within the parameters of what was acceptable to the British Postal Authorities. Posta: history material was never ending. Collecting postal stationery seemed more organised, and was to a certain extent 'limited'. This is when I decided to restrict my collection to Queen Victoria issues, and limited to Great Britain only. Initially I adopted the Great Britain section of the The World Postal Stationery Catalogue by Higgins and Gage, as my easy reference. Eventually, with the advent of the Internet and ebay, searching for and buying postal stationery material became far easier and more rewarding. One could access sellers lists from all over the world. Using the reference numbers of the Postal Stationery Catalogue by A.K.Huggins, which is the 'Stanley Gibbons' for British Postal St~tionery, makes searching and buying much easier.
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